Dear Committee Chairs, Members of the Texas Legislature, and Texas Community Members,

We believe that every young Texan deserves the opportunity to develop their voice and take responsibility for the role they will play as future voters and members of the Texas workforce. Student journalism provides the youth with a meaningful way to exercise that agency by learning the responsibilities that come with having a voice in civic life.

We, the undersigned groups: parents, students, educators, student journalists, advisors, alumni, and community members from across Texas, stand together in support of student press freedom and the New Voices Texas Act.

New Voices Texas fights to limit censorship, advocate for free speech among students, and build support through networking with other young journalists who have also possibly come across censorship. The New Voices bill gives students in high school more control over what they should be able to publish in school driven media. It prevents administrators from censoring stories simply because they are controversial. The bill wouldn't completely stop intervention with things like privacy violations, illegal content or other substantial disruption. Currently, Texas has no New Voices bill, despite advocacy dating back to 2018 and despite bills being filed every session—yet no New Voices bill has received a public committee hearing since 2019. Meanwhile, this legislation has been successfully enacted in 18 other states.

When student journalists write about issues they care about, they not only inform and inspire others to be informed citizens and future voters, but they learn and uncover controversial and crucial information about the world. In this environment, teenagers that are years away from being able to directly impact local and national policies are trained to question everything, take responsibility, and hold others to the same level. This environment nurtures newer generations, and the cycle repeats. The first amendment is the foundation of our democracy, and by denying student journalists the right to free speech, they are essentially denied their rights as Americans.

The issue we’re facing is not just censorship, but how we are being affected as people. What students are being taught in school helps them to learn the responsibilities of free expression. Student press freedom is about more than school newspapers. It is about preparing young Texans to be informed citizens who can gather facts, ask difficult questions, report responsibly, and challenge to committee leaders. As educational leaders considering the future of Texas schools, we ask you: are we teaching students that they have agency, or that they are powerless?

In this upcoming legislative session convening in January, we have the opportunity to change this. We specifically urge the House Public Education and Senate Education Committees to break the multi-year stalemate by granting a public hearing and committee vote for New Voices legislation. But that can only happen when we create awareness surrounding first amendment violations within educational environments. We urge you to pledge with a signature to uphold student press rights, and create a change in the system by supporting the New Voices bill.

We stand with New Voices Texas.

In solidarity,

The undersigned supporters of New Voices Texas

Students | Educators | Journalism Advisers | Journalists | Alumni | Community Members

Stand with student journalists across Texas. Add your name to this letter in support of student press freedom by signing today.